CaliToday (11/10/2025): Under the cloak of darkness, North Korea staged a massive military parade late Friday night, using the 80th anniversary of its ruling Workers' Party to showcase a fearsome new arsenal, including a sophisticated hypersonic weapon and its latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
 |
| North Korea showcased new weapons, including the Hwasong-11MA hypersonic glide vehicle (left) at a weapons exhibition last weekend. - KCNA |
The event, a meticulously choreographed spectacle of military might in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square, saw the public debut of the Hwasong-11Ma hypersonic glide vehicle and the colossal Hwasong-20 ICBM. State media later hailed the weapons as part of North Korea's "most powerful nuclear strategic weapon system," sending an unequivocal message of its advancing capabilities to the world.
While official state media released written reports on Saturday morning, images and video footage, captured by invited guests and released online, offered the first glimpse of the advanced hardware.
The parade's timing is no coincidence. It comes just one month after leader Kim Jong Un secured a major diplomatic victory with a high-profile visit to Beijing. There, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, cementing deeper strategic ties with his country's longtime patrons and signaling a unified front against the West. Emboldened by this renewed support, Pyongyang is now confidently displaying the fruits of its relentless weapons development programs.
The Hwasong-11Ma: A Hypersonic Game-Changer
At the heart of the display was the Hwasong-11Ma, a weapon designed to defeat modern missile defense systems. First seen at a military exhibition just a week prior, this short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) appears to be an advanced derivative of the Russian Iskander, a system used extensively by Moscow in Ukraine.
What makes the Hwasong-11Ma so dangerous is its payload: a maneuverable hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV). This winged, wedge-shaped warhead is designed to detach from its booster and glide towards its target at speeds exceeding Mach 5 (five times the speed of sound). Crucially, it can perform erratic, unpredictable maneuvers within the atmosphere, making it exceptionally difficult for missile defense networks to track and intercept.
Significantly, North Korea appears to have mounted the HGV on a solid-fuel rocket booster. Unlike their liquid-fueled predecessors, solid-fuel missiles can be transported more easily, hidden, and launched within minutes, drastically reducing the window for a preemptive strike. Analysts believe North Korea may have incorporated lessons learned from Russia's use of its air-launched hypersonic missile, the Kinzhal, in Ukraine, though some Western experts remain skeptical of that weapon's battlefield effectiveness.
The Hwasong-20: A New Nuclear Behemoth
Equally significant was the debut of the Hwasong-20, Pyongyang's newest and largest ICBM. Rolled through the square on a massive multi-axle Transporter Erector Launcher (TEL), the missile—or at least its massive canister—represents the next generation of North Korea's nuclear threat.
While Pyongyang has not yet announced a flight test for the Hwasong-20, its development is underpinned by proven technology. Earlier this year, North Korean state media announced the successful final ground test of a new, powerful solid-fuel engine made of advanced carbon-fiber composite materials. This same engine powers the Hwasong-19 ICBM, a missile already flight-tested and believed by experts to possess the range to strike anywhere in the continental United States. The appearance of the Hwasong-20 suggests this powerful engine will now be used to propel an even larger and potentially more capable weapon.
A Message of Alliance and Confrontation
Beyond the advanced hardware, the parade also carried a potent geopolitical message. Seated among the foreign dignitaries was Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council, his presence a clear symbol of the deepening Moscow-Pyongyang alliance.
Furthermore, the parade featured marching columns of North Korean soldiers who reportedly fought alongside Russian forces against Ukraine, specifically in the successful effort to push Kyiv's troops from Russia's Kursk region earlier this year. This display of shared combat experience solidifies North Korea's role not just as an ally, but as an active partner in Russia's military endeavors, marking a new and concerning chapter in international security.
